Under the Hardware section, click the Trackpad icon. Click Done, and you'll start feeling a lot more comfortable immediately. Check the Dragging check box, change the drop down to with Drag Lock. Select the Mouse & Trackpad option, then click Trackpad Options at the bottom. If you prefer it to, ensure that three-finger drag is off, then head to System Preferences and click Universal Access, found under the Personal section. This is available in OS X, too, but Apple's hidden the setting somewhere else.
We prefer the Windows method, though - double tap to drag/select, then tap once more to release/finish selection.
Three-finger drag has an interesting side effect - more than just moving windows, with it enabled you can also select text using a three-finger swipe, even if it isn't the most accurate of methods. System Preferences is similar in function to Windows' Control Panel. This is analogous to Windows' Control Panel - and, yes, just like Control Panel, not everything is stored here. Open up System Preferences, the gear-like icon in the dock. Let's start tweaking our track-pad experience, and, while we're at it, explore why Apple really does make the best touch pad in the business. But there's a more elegant, less effort, solution, and this involves tapping. Time to address something that's likely been frustrating you: You can right click with an Apple track pad - out of the box, hold two fingers on the pad and physically click.
We like showing the root folder of the main hard drive, so we usually select Macintosh HD and leave it at that. An easy way to make this more appealing to power users is to go back to the general tab of Finder preferences, find the section called New Finder windows show and set the drop down to your folder of choice. While some may find the "All My Files" view useful when opening new Finder windows, we don't. Making Finder open a different folder by default You can also check Computer here if you want a top-down view of your system, although, at this stage, it'll have a blank name - you'll need to launch System Preferences from the dock (the gear-like icon in the bar at the bottom of the screen), then select Sharing under Internet & Wireless to change it. Click on the Sidebar tab, and under Devices, ensure that Hard disks is a tick rather than a minus. Let's take things one step further: we want easy access to the root of the hard drive when using Finder. Once you change a setting, in most circumstances it's instantly changed. There's rarely a need to hit "apply", "save" or "OK" in OS X. Select them all - you'll now have a handy shortcut to your hard drive on the desktop, and whenever you insert a USB drive, it'll appear here, as well. Under the General tab, there are options under Show these items on the desktop. Once Finder is active, click the word Finder at the top left of the screen and select Preferences. The same functionality exists here, too, but instead is assigned to Command + Tab. As a Windows user, you're more than familiar with Alt + Tab for task switching. There are two ways you can do this: click the blue-and-silver square smiley face in the bottom left, or go through keyboard shortcuts. If it's not, we'll need to make Finder the active application. Many application preferences are found under their self-titled menus. From a straight cold boot, it's the first application running you can see this, as the word Finder should be right next to the black Apple logo at the top left. It runs by default as a shell, in much the same manner that Explorer does. We'll want to be using Finder, OS X's version of Windows Explorer. OS X likes to hide elements of its file system - let's open it back up for the power user.
Let's change a few settings to make things more comfortable. (Screenshot by Craig Simms/CBS Interactive)įor the first-time OS X user, long-time Windows user, being presented with the OS X desktop can be a little jarring. After you've gone through the sign-up process, this will most likely be your first sight.
We'll tackle this from the point of view of having opened your new Mac and walked through the set-up process, and you're now looking at your first desktop. CNET Australia is here to help with the adjustment!
So, you've succumbed to the shiny and bought yourself a new MacBook - but things aren't quite as familiar as your Windows world. Once you're done, if you'd like to further your learning we've also got a second part, and a third for getting you up to speed on all things OS X. Welcome to part one of our feature for switching to Mac.